The difference is sometimes called that between ‘non-cognitivism’ and ‘cognitivisim’ in the theory of ethics. The idea is that if the equation is read left to right, then talk of something being good, or something being a reason for action, is a kind of reflection of a motivational state of mind: the fact of something weighing with you. This motivational state of mind is not a simple belief. It is not a representation of some aspect of the world. It is a reaction to representations of the facts of the matter. It does not itself pick out some fact of the matter. Hence it is not strictly
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